Random Stuff from "As I Please"

what two phrases does orwell not agree with

“abolition of distance” and “the disappearance of frontiers”

list the effects orwell thinks technology had on the world

• increase nationalism

• make travel more difficult

• cut down means of communication between countries

• to make parts of the world less dependent on each other

what parts of the world does orwell say were hard or even impossible to get to before WWII due to political and technological developments

central asia, tibet, sinkiang in china, the japanese empire (except japan itself), india, europe, britain, Soviet Russia, and all the Fascist countries

what does orwell say about immigrants

the west has done whatever they can to keep immigrants (especially Japanese and Chinese) out

what does orwell say about Jews in Europe

they were forced to stay and be slaughtered compared to how they were able to flee 40 years earlier

what does orwell say about radios

they do not put people in touch with foreign countries - the government will prevent that from happening, and the result is that “each national radio is a sort of totalitarian world of its own" providing listeners with propaganda

why does orwell think literature is growing less and less international

most totalitarian countries ban foreign newspapers and heavily censor the little number of foreign books they let in; letters are tampered with; and history books are rewritten to promote nationalism

what does orwell say about economic self sufficiency

because the trend of countries becoming more economically self-sufficient has been going on and has been intensified by WWII, countries no longer have to be interdependent - imports don’t matter as much because resources can be produced much easier and in a larger variety of ways

what does orwell think scientific progress is helping

the world tendency towards nationalism and totalitarianism